Spectators glancing quickly at Friday's order of play could have been forgiven for thinking Andy Murray was trying to make history in two Wimbledon semi-finals. But it was Jonathan Marray rather than Murray playing in the men's doubles, and the task for the Sheffield-based 31-year-old was to become the first Briton since 1960 to reach the final. Just like his near namesake he relished the challenge, as he and his partner Frederik Nielsen of Denmark pulled off a remarkable victory over the defending champions, Bob and Mike Bryan.

Marray and Nielsen, the grandson of the 1953 and 1955 men's singles finalist Kurt Nielsen, had played only three previous tournaments together, but were always in front against one of the most successful teams in doubles history, beating the American twins 6-4, 7-6, 6-7, 7-6. They will now play Sweden's Robert Lindstedt and Horia Tecau of Romania, the runners-up for the past two years, in Saturday's final.

"I'm not thinking about history, I'm just so pleased to be in the final," Marray said. "We're just going to be doing exactly what we've done for the rest of the tournament. Same preparation. It doesn't weigh on my mind. I'm just delighted to get a chance to play on Centre Court and share it with Freddie. We've been friends for a long time. To do this together, it's great."

This was a tremendous effort by the pair, who were never broken throughout the four sets, despite facing eight break points. To put it into context, Marray, world ranked 76, had never previously been beyond the third round in a grand slam and before getting a wild card this fortnight his prize money amounted to £275,000. In contrast the Bryans have won 11 major titles, including two at Wimbledon, and have earned around £5.7m in prize money during their career.

The Bryans perhaps thought their status merited more salubrious surroundings than those of a half-empty Court 12. Moved to the outer reaches of the grounds after a rain delay, the second seeds never seemed comfortable, and vented their frustration to the umpire about the lack of Hawk-Eye on several occasions. Bob's anger spilled over in the third set when he exclaimed: "We can't challenge. We're out in the woods here."

Marray follows Mike Davies and Bobby Wilson who were finalists for Britain 52 years ago, while the last Britons to win the doubles title were Pat Hughes and Raymond Tuckey in 1936, the year of Fred Perry's singles victory. A good omen for Messrs Marray and Murray then.

In the women's doubles, meanwhile, Serena Williams will play for her second Wimbledon title this weekend after she and her sister Venus rallied from a set down to reach the final. They struggled with their serves in the first set but still went on to beat their fellow Americans Liezel Huber and Lisa Raymond 2-6, 6-1, 6-2.

The Williams sisters will be going for their fifth title in the doubles. Should Serena win the women's singles and the pair win the doubles, they would hold 15 Wimbledon titles in total.